+-+ +-+ +-+ +-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME ONE NUMBER SIX | | ========================================== +___________+ FFFFF SSS FFFFF N N EEEEE TTTTT | ++ | F S F NN N E T | ++ | FFF SSS FFF N N N EEE T | | F S F N NN E T |_________| F SSS F N N EEEEE T /___________ ========================================== | | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine ___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> CONTENTS Editorial Orny Narret Chronicles 9 Mari A. Paulson Featured Author: DAVID EDDINGS Orny Review: the Black Company Trilogy Merlin SciFi Story Alex Williams Paranoia RPG Review Orny Return of Jedi Commentary Merlin <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> Editorial Hello, all! Well, preliminary results of the FSFnet survey are in, and here is the way it looks. Favorite authors are Larry Niven and Tolkien, least favorite being C.S. Lewis and Bradbury. Favorite issue was number four, the Lovecraftian issue. Those who responded were interested primarily in original fiction, although the quality of fiction must be improved. The letter column still remains a divided issue. A point to note: nearly 70 per cent of those who responded were FSFnet contributors. If you wish to take part in the survey, it was tagged at the end of issue 5. Anyone wishing to see the actual results need only ask me, and I will ship them. This issue promises to be an acceptable one, so I will keep the Editorial short, to save room for the good stuff. A reminder: we need submissions, especially short quality fiction. Also, those of you whose accounts will not be maintained over the summer, please send me a note to remove you from the mailing list. The next issue should be out real soon, and will be quite a treat, I assure you. All you people who asked for better fiction, watch closely... Orny <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> The Narret Chronicles Book the Ninth "Unwelcome Samo!" Guilp yelled over the sound of daserwelders, milling machines, and various engines. "Let's step out of my office." "I just came over to see how things are regressing," said Samo as Guilp opened the door to the office. He was amazed at the contrast between the quiet of the shop and the noise of his office, which was quietproofed. "Things are going quite horribly, and we're way behind schedule. I'm braved you won't be able to leave at 6 p.m. yesteron as you requested. Yes, you'll have to leave at noon yesteron, like it or no," Guilp stated with a smile. "Horrible, simply horrible," Samo replied. "And I was brave you'd only be half-started by now. And here you tell me you'll be completely started by noon yesteron. Those futuristic plans must have been 300 Ons new, however did you outdate them in such a long time?" queried Samo. "That's a little public knowledge I've been working on for a few Ons now. Here have a look," Guilp said as he flipped a switch on his desk. Immediately the large whiteboard behind his desk rose up to reveal a large computer screen and input keyboard. "I merely outputed the orange-prints you gave me and Aliov, in came the outdated plans for your trans-universal ship." "I'm brave I quite understand you completely," stated Samo. "It's quite allwrong, please worry," said Guilp. "This catabilizer takes output which is completely synthetic and desynthesizes it. Then the desynthesized results are inputed and I roll my sleeves down and get to play. Now does that make less sense?" "Much less, thank you." said Samo. "And this system belongs to NSIS I assume?" "Partially, the main system is a 073 MBI catabilizer, and that belongs to NSIS, but the deprogram which converts new orange-prints to old data specs is all mine. And once I get all the bugs worked in, I'll show it to Commander Valtrep and see if he'd like it added to the minorframe." "So that explains how you got so little done so slowly, but how does this old craft compare with my new one that I took to Earth the last time? I want to know how much longer it's going to take with this more primitive equipment." "Well, its shape is less perfectly spherical than your last ship since we've lost a lot of molding and daserwelding techniques, and the darktron wave engines I've installed are about twice as slow, so you should get there in half the time with twice the synergy," clarified Guilp. "Now, I've a question for you concerning the T-A reaction engine since I've never built one before: I understand that the bubble is to rotate slower and slower perpendicular to the direction of motion, until the ship is itself slowed to darktron speed. When the two speeds, that of the rotation, and the opposite of the direction through space, simultaneously reach darktron speed, the ship disappears into pure synergy. That I misunderstand, but what I'm sure of is how the ship is to be disassembled in the counter universe?" "Well," said Samo, "what happens is this: when the ship leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaves this universe as pure synergy, it becomes total Anti-trivia in the counter-universe. Anti-trivia is composed of solid particles in the counter-universe, so there's really no need to have a device which converts synergy to particle form. Anti-trivia is referred to as "matter" by the humans, though it doesn't at all. Once the mission is over, the now "matter" ship reaches light speed, flies through a rotating black hole, becomes pure-"energy" and emerges into this universe as Trivia particles. Now is that more nebulous?" "Perfectly. You've lost me completely." Mari A. Paulson <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> Featured Author: DAVID EDDINGS Few authors have achieved a master work with their first published work of fantasy, but David Eddings' five-book Belgeriad has proven itself a classic. The work consists of the following books: Pawn of Prophesy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, and Enchanter's End Game. Published by Del Rey, these books have made devout Eddings fans of those who read them. Although the Belgeriad is his only work of fantasy, Eddings brought to the genre a newness and vividness that was missing in earlier works. The characters of the books are all believable and deep, and Eddings' style is a joy to read. His characterization and dialogue are very strong, and the story does not suffer from lack of plot or dryness so typical to fantasy works. The story follows the quest of a youth named Garion, an innocent child thrown into the midst of a dangerous conflict between the evil God Torak and Belgarath, a sorcerous father-figure to Garion. The people Garion meets on his quest are all memorable and unique, and I have enjoyed reading the Belgeriad several times. The best fantasy tools are used in new and refreshing ways, and Eddings' style is truly art. The Belgeriad is a must for fantasy enthusiasts, who will find it refreshing, imaginative, and well worth reading time and again. Orny <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> Review: The Black Company Trilogy Glen Cook has recently published a fascinating swords and sorcery trilogy consisting of The_Black_Company, The_Shadows_Linger, and The_ White_Rose, available in paperback from Tor Books. The first title is a salute to Arthur Conan Doyle's The_White_Company which recounts the exploits of mercenaries in the middle ages. Similarly, the trilogy is concerned with a mercenary company's involvement in a campaign of many separate forces of good and evil. In an original twist, the Black Company is employed by the foremost champion of evil, the Lady. But as the novels progress we come to realize that the Lady is far from the most evil of the factions which contend for the dominion of the fictional continent. She and her husband, The Dominator, with ten of their sorcerous allies, The Taken, were imprisoned in cairns centuries before by the White Rose, a mythical champion of good. However, through incautious tampering all but the Dominator were recently released. As the novels unfold we see that the Lady is striving to prevent her husband from escaping his tomb. Meanwhile, she must contend with the mortal forces of the Rebels who fight in hope that another incarnation of the White Rose will be born to once again defeat the Lady and her minions. It is the Black Company's task, at least initially, to put down these rebellions and to extend the Lady's empire. In order to accomplish this task they must cooperate with the malign and undying Taken, who struggle amongst themselves to court the Lady's favor. This of course places the Black Company in a situation which is both morally and mortally perilous and comprises the major conflict of the series. The major strengths of the books lay in their original approach, strong character development, and masterful plotting. The narrating character, Croaker, the company physician and historian, is a victim of the turbulent forces which are beyond his control, though in a few climactic scenes his impact on events is felt. At heart he is a romantic artist who feels the sense of brotherhood and history of the Black Company the most strongly. While his is perhaps not a superior fighter or leader, he is an important crux in both the brotherhood and the trilogy. Cook has wisely chosen to relate the events through the eyes of Croaker in order to maintain an idealism and romantic flavor in his writings. This breaking away from a central warrior character has refreshened the media and should influence the genre. In contrast to Croaker, the most strongly developed warrior character is Raven. Raven is cast in the character of a misguided Aragorn. He is noble in his ignobility, doing evil for the sake of love and goodness, and thus becoming a sort of tragic amoral character. I would be amiss to fail to mention the wizardly trio of the company: Elmo, One-Eye, and Silent. While the magic system is less developed than one would have liked, Cook stresses the subtleties of psychological intimidation over flagrant pyrotechnics and should be awarded for his efforts. In spite of Gary E. Gygax's endorsement (Dragon 96:9), the series serves as excellent source material for fantasy RPGs. Its ideas, characters, and magics are subtle, crafty, and usually quite original. Hence, it strengths are the weaknesses of many RPG campaigns. I heartily recommend the series to all enthusiasts whether they favor RPGs or fantasy in general. Joseph (Merlin) Curwen <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> SciFi Story A hush fell over the huge vaulted hall as High Speaker Vallj held his left hand up. "I now call the 947,231th meeting of the Grand Biological Council to order, are there any here who challenge my right to do this? Fine. Now the first order of business is the Sirius-8 project. Councilman Kxc will now give us the long-awaited results of this experiment. Councilman Kxc?" "Thank you. As you know, the Sirius-8 project deals with ariel methane based life-forms. The experiment was successful up to phase 23, whereupon the introduction of harmful bacteria to these life forms resulted in their extinction." A mumble of dismay circulated around the hall. A lone figure stood up from his seat. "I am Councilman Winj, your Honor," said the lone figure. "Yes, Councilman , what is your question?" rumbled High Speaker Vallj "It concerns the Sirius-8 experiment. Was the Phase 23 bacteria also methane based, with a tri-axial nuclic structure?" "Yes, it was. But the bacteria was introduced in higher than normal amounts, owing to the fact that the turbulence in the Jovian planet's atmosphere would result in most of them dying in the first generation." explained Councilman Kxc. "Oh yes..." mumbled Winj, as he sat back down. "To continue ",said Kxc," the data received was more than adequate. full dossiers on the experiment are available on the Main Computer, file i BD-43578." Kxc seated himself. "Thank you Councilman Kxc. Now to our main business. Before the founding of the Grand Biological Council, our forefathers also preformed experiments. These experiments are the basis of our techniques today. Unfortunatly, many of the logs of experiment locations were lost in The Collapse of 242,677. One such experiment was Carbon-based life around a G class star." Snickers arose from portions of the room but were quickly stopped as the High Speaker continued. "Such life is indeed possible in the very narrow band called the F-zone. This experiment has been running, uncontrolled for roughly 4.6 billion years." Gasps were heard , but died quickly. "Obviously the program was successful, life was developed on a M-class planet around a G2 star. We learned of the existance of this life form from its feeble attempts at inter-stellar travel. Yes, the experiment has developed a rudimentary intellect. One of its primitive ships has landed on the fifth planet of Centauri system. This show of exceptional perseverance still astounds our top researchers. Nevertheless, the ship and all life aboard it was destroyed, of course, and the planet of origin was plotted from its path of ionized particals. The matter has been refered to us. Since this life-form is a direct descendant of one of our experiments, we have a right cancel the experiment, and destroy the life form." "All in favor of canceling this experiment? All against? Motion passed. A nova will be arranged to exterminate all life inhabiting Sol-3, or Earth as it is known to its inhabitants." "In other business..." Alex Williams <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> PARANOIA Game Review The Computer is your friend! Rooting out traitors will make you happy. The Computer tells you so. Of course the Computer is right. Being a Troubleshooter is fun. Troubleshooters get shot at, stabbed, incinerated, stapled, mangled, poisoned, blown to bits, and occasionally accidentally executed. This is so much fun that many Troubleshooters go crazy. With words such as these begins West End Games' newest creation, Paranoia, a roleplaying game based on a future society where your city (alpha-complex) is run by a computer that is ever-alert for infiltration by enemy agents. Having a mutant power is treasonous. All Troubleshooters have mutant powers that they must hide. Being a member of a secret society is treasonous. All Troubleshooters are members, and must hide this fact. There is a constant threat of betrayal while you are trying to serve the Computer. Stay alert! Trust no one! Keep your laser handy! The game itself is very enjoyable, in a 'darkly humorous' manner. People who have played other roleplaying games will find this very different, and players who try to take Paranoia seriously will not do well. Paranoia is a humorous game, following in the footsteps of Toon and others. Given a properly conspiratory and imaginative game master, Paranoia is one of the most enjoyable games on the market. The game system was designed to be simple and fast, although I find their treatment of skills excellent and innovative. Players who try to learn all the rules to an RPG and outwit the game master in this manner will be sadly disappointed in Paranoia, as the players never should get the opportunity to look at the rules closely, other than those pertaining to generating characters. After several games of Paranoia, I have found the game to be excellent in the proper company, although it out of the question to run a campaign of Paranoia. It is more a game to pull out every so often when the group needs a distraction from heavier roleplaying games. The rule books are excellently written and very humorous. I would highly suggest this game to other gamers. The life of a Troubleshooter is (no matter how brief) very enjoyable. Orny <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> Return of the Jedi Comment Well, I had this thought for a long time about an alternate ending to the Return of the Jedi which I think is superior. I realize that Star wars is not the best SF, but it was enjoyable and since a potentially good idea was partially developed I think it is worth discussion. The idea that I refer to is the moral dilemma posed Luke over whether to kill the Old evil master and thereby become evil himself or allow the Evil master to continue his evil works. Depicted in such words the solution seems easy, because the 'good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one'. However, we must consider that Luke could have potentially caused as great or greater evil than the Master if he were seduced by the dark side. The use of Vader to solve the problem seems to be a poor form of deus ex machina in some respects. Yes, it does solve the problem but only by avoiding it. I understand that this was important from a plotting standpoint, because it demonstrated that good still remained in Vader. But I think that Vader's character was mishandled in the last two movies. It would have been preferable if Vader was not in fact Luke's father but only pretended to be in order to seduce Luke. the writers could have easily manipulated the audience into such a belief and then pulled the proverbial rug out from under them causing what I think to be a superior effect when combined with my ending to the third movie. Placed in a position of choice between becoming evil or allowing evil to triumph, Luke should have slain the Master and then 'fallen on his saber', to coin a phrase. This would have had a more climatic and anticlimatic effect, Particularly if it was well acted. I realize that this plot is hopelessly Byronic in some respects. Good triumphs but only at the expense of Luke's life. Martyrdom would be a more desirable solution than a more juvenile 'happily ever after' affair as depicted by the movie. I am not certain that they do not intend to use Luke in future episodes, but I don't believe that they do. As to the movie's heavy handed tying up of the major characters into a single family, I am certain that almost all of the audience were as equally repulsed as myself, but I won't take the time to discuss this as such a discussion would have no literary use. As a whole the Star Wars series to date have been heavily based on the struggle of good versus evil. Predictably, the writers have chosen to make good triumphant. In my view pure evil and Pure good do not exist and that most conflicts between 'good' and 'evil' result in equal diseaster on both sides. Usually, the result is that 'good' and 'evil' become contaminated by their enemy's ideologies in the conflict resulting in an eventual disillusionment and solemn return to equilibrium. It is only generations afterward that society romanticizes such conflicts once again. Recent American wars and 'police actions' tend to support this theory. Joseph (Merlin) Curwen <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>